Excerpt

The head ofEnergy Innovations & Solutions, Inc., the world’s leading energy research company, looked out his window.﻿ Decades of his life’s work were about to become reality…if everything went according to plan. Despite all he and his team had accomplished, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was all for naught. Would the world’s academics buy into his company’s claims? Would they refuse to accept their potential benefits to humankind? Would they embrace them as the solution to sustaining our planet forever? Or would they publicly shun them as pseudoscience?﻿

He had no idea. After all these years, he was still terrified of what might happen once the details of his discovery were made public. There were many influential individuals that wanted him to fail, and he knew they would stop at nothing to see to it that he did. Despite the dangers, he pressed on.﻿

Turning from the window, the head of the company sighed. Pushing away all of the questions invading his mind, he knew one thing for sure: for better or for worse, his company’s discovery was about to change the face of the planet forever.﻿﻿

Maddy, Corbyn, and Aaden were unique in how they spent their time together. Instead of always engaging in typical teen activities, the trio often preferred conducting science experiments, decoding ciphers, reading, and holding contests to see which one would be the first to solve the next great brain teaser. The three enjoyed working together through mental challenges so much that they jokingly referred to themselves as the biggest nerds in Colorado. This inside joke led the trio to nickname themselves Science Nerds Rule, a name that fit the three perfectly. To make the name more efficient, Science Nerds Rule became S.N.R., an acronym that sounds like sonar when read. Thus, Team SoNaR was born, and the rest was history.﻿﻿

Successfully through the first test, Team SoNaR was again standing in another pitch-black room.﻿

“Flashlight?” Corbyn asked.﻿

Maddy turned the flashlight on and moved the beam around the room. The team saw this room was similar in many respects to the room they had just left. It had two locked doors with red lights: the one Team SoNaR had just walked through and another on the opposite side. It was also made of concrete in the exact same dimensions as the previous one. And another stainless steel pedestal, identical to the previous one complete with an envelope on top, was in the center.﻿

Despite the similarities, the room had striking differences as well. For one, there were no circular tiles surrounding the pedestal. Additionally, the concrete walls were not bare. Instead, what appeared to be over a hundred projectors, their lenses aimed in all different directions, were embedded in the walls.﻿

“Let’s do this.” Corbyn walked to the pedestal and grabbed the envelope.﻿

The room transformed. While the pedestal lowered into the ground, light flooded the room as the projectors turned on. Image after image began to seemingly pop up out of nowhere all around the team.﻿

﻿﻿﻿“Holograms,” Aaden said as he admired the array of three dimensional images that filled the interior of the room. “Of different galaxies.”﻿

Indeed, well over forty holographic images of different galaxies were suspended in midair throughout the room. The effect was stunning. Every single image appeared to defy gravity as it hung in front of, on top of, and behind Team SoNaR.﻿

Aaden was entranced. “How cool is this?”

He reached out to touch one of the holograms. Just as he was about to make contact, Corbyn ordered him to stop. Aaden jerked his hand away reflexively.

“Why not? They’re not gonna hurt me.”

Corbyn held up the piece of the paper he’d just taken out of the envelope. “This is why not.”

Aaden read the next clue. Maddy looked over his shoulder.

Inheritors of the Secret must be able to:﻿

Make the most logical decisions when given many to choose from.﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿